CareerTech Educators Head To Tulsa For 47th Annual Conference

More than 3,500 CareerTech employees will converge on the Tulsa Cox Convention Center Aug. 4-5 for the 47th annual Oklahoma Career and Technology Education Summer Conference.

The conference is held in partnership with the Oklahoma Association of Career and Technology Education.

Oklahoma CareerTech teachers, counselors, administrators and staff members will meet with colleagues from across the state to discuss ideas and advancements in CareerTech education and to learn what they can do to make the system even better.

“Reports show if you want to get better academic results and college completion rates and a more prepared workforce, the solution must include CareerTech,” said Robert Sommers, CareerTech state director and Oklahoma secretary for education and workforce development. “The Oklahoma CareerTech System is working to continually improve and connect to the larger world so it can help more Oklahomans become economically productive and independent.”

In addition to division meetings and the CareerTech Expo, where educators can learn about the latest products and services available, conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear experts in five spotlight sessions.

Author Debbie Silver will speak about engaging all students in learning; author Craig Valentine will speak about leadership, communication and change; Sommers will speak about how CareerTech education fits into and works with a changing business world; and author and CEO Tom Vander Ark will speak about changes in learning environments. In a fifth session, a panel of representatives of companies that use the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence will talk about the challenges and the benefits of the improvement and innovation framework.

The conference is the major professional development activity for Oklahoma CareerTech teachers, counselors, administrators and staff members.

The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 59 campuses, 393 comprehensive school districts and 13 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities.

The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.